Posted in: CW, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: avengers, btvs, buffy, emily andras, joss whedon

Wynonna Earp Series Creator on Joss Whedon: The Writer vs The Man

Emily Andras (Wynonna Earp) praised Joss Whedon as a writer (not as a person), explaining why we need to separate the art from the artist.

In terms of pop culture – whether it's Film, Television, Comics, Video Games, etc. – being a fan in the age of the internet & social media means having to make some really tough choices when it comes to separating the art from the artist – especially if said artist finds themselves painfully lacking in the ability to be a decent human being. It's a topic that we've covered a number of times in the past, with the understanding that it truly is a personal choice. Recently, much of the conversation has circled around JK Rowling and Warner Bros. Discovery going back into business with the bestselling author on a new "Harry Potter" streaming series, even in light of her past & current controversial social media posts and comments that many within the LGBTQ community and its allies vie as being anti-transgender. But the person who continues to rumble just below the surface, even to this day, is Joss Whedon and the fallout from accusations of inappropriate & unprofessional conduct on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel that were first made public by Charisma Carpenter (who starred in both series) – with others also sharing their experiences.

Wynonna Earp Series Creator on Joss Whedon: Writer vs Man

On the same weekend that "Buffy" marks the anniversary of its season finale, Wynonna Earp series creator Emily Andras (Lost Girl, Killjoys) took to Twitter overnight/this morning to get at one of the key issues of this greater conversation. "My controversial writing opinion tonight is J*ss Wh*don was LITERALLY a genius, his character work on Avengers was unparalleled, BTVS inspired an entire generation of writers & is still Room relevant & pretending monsters can't also produce beautiful art is dangerous/disingenuous," was how the first in a series of tweets from Andras that kicked off the point that there's a defined difference between "Whedon the Writer" and "Whedon the Person." Here's a look at the full text of Andras' multi-tweet post, followed by some of Andras' responses to the reactions that they received:

My controversial writing opinion tonight is J*ss Wh*don was LITERALLY a genius, his character work on Avengers was unparalleled, BTVS inspired an entire generation of writers & is still Room relevant & pretending monsters can't also produce beautiful art is dangerous/disingenuous

He did groundbreaking, cultural work that moved us all & pretending it was less than sublime or attributing it to someone else helps no one & protects nobody moving forward. You have to stare the monsters in the face. Even if they made you feel particularly human.

I saw a thread on Gunn v. Whedon tonight but it also LITERALLY happened to be the first time I showed my sweet, sensitive son the first Avengers & watching his delight & his laughter I was reminded… I would KILL to write dialogue like this.

Maybe bad man. God tier craft.

Over the course of a number of responses to thread reactions, Andras pushed back on those reacting to their post by claiming that Whedon wasn't involved in the vast majority of the scripts that hit the screen over seven seasons. "I am a showrunner. I know how the writing goes. He had an amazing team AND YET… JW would have done final pass on everything," Andras responded to one individual. "My point was…when we (falsely) try to attribute good work to someone less bad to make us feel better it only allows a future genius 'bad' to fool us," they added. In fact, Andras believes that it's essential that we understand that horrible people can make things that people enjoy – or, as Andras asks another individual at one point, "Why can't you admit he's a bad person but a good writer?" By having that understanding & appreciation for the clear difference between the art and artist, Andras believes that will better prepare fandom for the next Whedon. "My whole point is he [Whedon] was a brilliant writer AND an awful man. But people pretend that bc they've learned he's terrible his writing is somehow worse, or someone else was responsible for the good parts, and that makes us all less equipped to deal with the next genius monster."

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